Mind Games
by Asukai Haruka
Summary: 12 girls are chosen at random from a single country, and their lovers will be captured alongside them. The 12 competitors must arm themselves to face numerous challenges in which failure spells death for themselves and their beloved. Luka has been chosen as a competitor, and her girlfriend Miku captured. Can Luka maneuver this extraterrestrial battleground and save Miku?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: A random and cruel idea I got when I saw the words "mind game". I hope this will turn out into something interesting!**

**Titania**

Luka blinked awake, groggy and confused, rubbing her eyes. What in the world had happened to her? She had been walking down the streets of Tokyo, laughing with her girlfriend of two years, Hatsune Miku, when she felt a stinging pain in the back of her head and blacked out. Who in the world attacked her? Did her attackers harm Miku as well?

That thought sent Luka scrambling up on her feet, panic jolting through her veins. She scanned her surroundings quickly; she was the only living being in the brown stone room she had woken in. However, the room was far from empty, lined from floor to ceiling with weapons and armor. Swords of various styles, mace, spears, shields, bows and arrows and all other sorts of olden-day weaponry greeted her, and Luka had a gut feeling that she would need some of them. On one section of the wall was armor in her favorite colors, black, gold and pink; and a yellow bag with a first-aid kit and some food sticking out from it leaned against the wall within easy reach.

Suddenly, a huge voice boomed from the ceiling in a language Luka knew wasn't one she had ever heard before, yet still understood. "Welcome to the 194th Mind Games! You are all gathered here today for the entertainment of the intelligent beings across the cosmos! You are currently in the Mind Games Stadium in Andromeda Galaxy, human female players, and to return to your Milky Way Galaxy, you must win these Games!"

Luka paled immediately, _Andromeda Galaxy?! _Helplessness dawned on her instantly; she knew she had no choice but to play whatever nasty game the aliens had in store for her. There was no way she could escape Andromeda and return to Earth, especially since she had no idea where Miku was. Also, she was simply a human, an ordinary Japanese citizen without any superhuman abilities. How could she hope to stand up against these technologically advanced beings? This could not possibly be a prank; the strange language she somehow understood told her that.

"The person you love has been captured by an individual Game Master, who will set challenges for you to face to save his or her life. Oh, "or her"! We have lesbians and bisexuals this year! This makes it so much more interesting!" the voice continued cheerfully.

Luka snarled aloud at the comment, she felt a little discriminated by it. However, they sounded more amazed and amused by the fact instead of disgusted, so she did not take it badly. Another part of the alien's speech that infuriated her was the one stating that Miku's life, and her own, were in danger for some kind of game, but she knew she could do nothing about it. These aliens had Miku with them, and Luka wouldn't risk Miku for the world. She would rather die here than abandon or harm Miku, even if she could wring the neck of whoever who planned these sinister Games she was unwillingly taking part in.

"Take anything you want and leave the room before your decision time is up. It will be made inaccessible to you after you leave it, so be sure to take everything your little human guts tell you that you might need or want. Intuition is often right, especially in these games where you place your life on the line. You are not allowed to kill one another; these Games are simply to test the loyalty of human females toward their lovers. You may travel in teams, but when the challenge comes, you must answer it alone. Failure to adhere to these rules will result in the death of your captured lover."

Luka made a mental note to follow every single rule; she planned on getting Miku out alive, whatever the cost might be.

"You have twelve hours to make your decision. The Game clock will mark off every hour, like the Big Ben that you humans have in London. If you have not left the room by the twelfth hour, you and your lover will be killed. To win, you must survive every challenge thrown at you and outlast the other competitors. There are a total of twelve competitors and twelve hostages in the Games. However, there can only be one winner; only one couple shall return to Earth. I hope your love is true and unfaltering, female humans. Good luck. Now, let the 194th Mind Games begin!"

A door appeared on the only section of empty wall next to her the moment a single chime rocked through the room. Luka grabbed the yellow bag quickly and headed to examine the armor carefully and slowly, scrutinizing every inch, intent on taking the Games very seriously. She didn't like armor at all; it was bulky and heavy though it did offer much protection. Still, she knew she had to get some, so she tried hard to identify something she liked. She did indeed find something, though its physical appearance made her doubtful of its protective capabilities. It was a thin, lightweight kimono-like top, black trimmed with gold, and a skirt worn low across the hips of the same color. She tested and arrow against it, wondering if it could be considered armor, and found the arrow unable to pierce the garment. She tried to force the arrow through, but it rebounded with equal strength in response. The garment seemed the strongest armor, so Luka quickly changed into it and stuffed an extra into her backpack.

Next, she examined the racks of weapons, seeking a katana. She finally located a whole bunch of them and sought one that had the same length as the ones she used in Kendo class, took one and stuffed two extras into the bag. She expected the katanas to stick out about halfway, but they disappeared upon being put inside. Confused, Luka searched the bag, and was unable to find it. Trying a different tactic, she placed her hand in and thought of a katana, and one materialized in her hand.

Alien technology, Luka mused; this must be one of the advantages to winning the Games. Others in bulky armor would have difficulty with speed and mobility, and those who knew not of the bag's properties would carry few weapons. She was glad that she liked taking things slow, thinking things through and preparing for emergencies before the start of any situation. It surely would give her the upper hand in these Games.

Luka decided to take two huge metal shields, padded with leather on the inside, and stuffed them into the little yellow bag that didn't gain any weight. She took one final look around the room, her old clothes tossed away in a corner, wondering if she needed anything else. Bows and arrows were of no use to her who couldn't shoot if her life depended on it, but she felt compelled to take one set anyway. Maybe she would need an ally that would need some, her allies might not know of the bag's properties. Extra weaponry wouldn't hurt; anyway, the bag never gained weight and seemed not to fill up.

The loud chime of the clock gripped the room six times just as Luka got ready to leave. She felt slightly unsure; did she have everything that she needed? She had six more hours, should she close off her entire armory right then? She thought it over and decided it wise, she was quite sure she was fully prepared, and she wanted to check out her surroundings before the Games began properly. It might do her some good.

The moment she closed the door it disappeared behind her, becoming a solid stone wall. She found herself standing in a huge brown stone hallway with various caves branching outwards randomly, another clue that it was probably true that she was in another galaxy. To have an arena of this scale, where could one possibly hide it on Earth? Also, no one had ever heard of any "Mind Games" on Earth besides the ones bullies played on their victims. Luka started to walk as calmly as she could, all senses on alert, very aware that Miku's life rode on her shoulders.

The creaking sound of armor alerted her to someone's presence, and she rounded the corner to see a tall brown haired young woman in red armor, holding a long sword and talking nervously to a shorter blonde in gold armor, with a bow and a quiver full of arrows slung over one shoulder. The duo noticed her too, and the brown haired one called out to her.

"Hello," she spoke Japanese, relieving Luka. It seemed that the aliens targeted Japan for this Mind Games; did they choose what country to kidnap girls from every year? "I'm Sakine Meiko."

"I'm Akita Neru," the blonde said, she looked very edgy and upset, not that anyone could blame her, "Do you want to join us or something?"

"We have no idea how this works, but safety in numbers, eh?" Meiko said awkwardly, running a hand through her short brown hair. She was smiling, but it fell through by quite a lot. It was hard to smile when your life and your lover's was on the line and you most probably in a whole other freaking galaxy.

Luka nodded, smiling slightly, "I'm Megurine Luka."

They spent the next six hours talking about their lives back home as they walked, exchanging silly stories to try calm themselves down. There was a limit to how good one could feel when one's life is on the line, but it still helped them feel better. It reminded them of home, of friends, of the other humans that awaited them back on their home planet that they were fighting for, in addition to their lovers.

Meiko lived in Osaka, and had recently recovered from a bad slump in life. Her studies went badly and her family threw her out, so she fell to drinking. She wasted away in dingy bars gulping sake until she met Shion Kaito, who pulled her out of her slump and changed her for the better. Kaito became her boyfriend, they grew extremely close, and then this happened. She longed to win to save Kaito's life in return. Neru lived in Akita (as her name suggested, Meiko playfully added), and was a troll who never had a liking for humans in general. She was extremely intelligent, but had absolutely no social life aside from annoying people on the Internet (and that wasn't really a social life). Then, she met her girlfriend, Yowane Haku, an alcoholic who had nowhere to go, and helped Haku against her better judgement. In the end, Neru realized that she made the right choice after all in helping Haku, for the silver haired ex-alcoholic completed her life and changed it for the better.

Luka told them about her life in Tokyo, she was a Psychology and Japanese Literature student who wanted to be a teacher when she grew up. Two and a half years ago, her friends made her hold a "Free Hugs" sign and stand outside the train station for a psychology project. Luka had to hug tons of perverted males, but eventually was hugged by a weeping 14 year old girl with turquoise hair in twintails. It was love at first sight. Eventually, Luka found out Miku had been disowned for coming out of the closet since Miku had nowhere to stay, no school to attend and no much money of her own, and six months later they were dating and living together. Miku gave Luka's life meaning, it brought color into her otherwise monochrome existence.

Knowing more about her allies made Luka feel a little better, even though she knew only one of them could get out alive. The Mind Games felt less hostile when they knew they weren't completely alone in an alien galaxy, serving as entertainment for cruel, emotionally-backward, technologically-advanced beings they never knew existed.

When the twelfth chime rocked the building, Luka wasn't sure what to expect. She simply braced herself for anything, ready to run or fight in a moment's notice. To her surprise, nothing happened. The tunnels remained empty, and nothing shuddered or collapsed upon them. Suddenly, Neru tensed, pain filling her features. Her head snapped upright, and she cried out, "Haku!"

"Neru…?" The duo looked at her in confusion, they heard nothing, but Neru evidently did. The blonde sprinted off, sword in hand, muttering Haku's name repeatedly under her breath.

A high-pitched shriek of pain reached Luka's ears minutes later, and she tensed, "Miku!" It was undoubtedly Miku's voice she heard, her cry of agony, and Luka couldn't stand it. How could they hurt her sweet little Miku?!

"Wait for me, sweetie," Mumbling under her breath, Luka shouldered her bag, kept one hand steady on her katana, and she ran. Following the sounds of Miku's pained screams, motivated by her desire to protect her beloved, Luka ran. She didn't know how she was supposed to find her allies again, but that was for later. What really mattered was Miku.

The sound of Miku's cries grew steadily louder, and Luka took a sharp left to follow it. Her gut told her where to go; her heart told her she was getting closer. She arrived at the front of a huge dark tunnel where a thin, dark haired man in a strange suit stood, Miku huddled behind him in a cage. Just as Luka skidded to a halt, Miku emitted another scream of pain; they were administering electricity to her body. It made Luka's blood boil to think of the pain Miku was going through. How could they do that to innocent, sweet little Miku?

"Megurine Luka," the being that looked like a man spoke in that strange unknown language she had heard earlier, telling her he was an alien, a Game Master, "This is your first challenge of the Mind Games. For each challenge you complete, you will be rewarded with either supplies or time to be spent with this girl. If you fail even a single one, however, this girl will die alongside you."

The man and the caged Miku disappeared into thin air, and Luka took a deep breath. She had no idea what to expect of her first challenge, but she knew she would have to keep her wits about her, no matter what strange things she might end up facing. She was fighting for Miku's sake; that thought alone gave her much strength and determination. She would be the winner of this cruel competition, she would bring Miku home and never let her get hurt again.

"Hang in there, Miku. I'll get us out of here." She unsheathed her sword and stepped into the large black tunnel, ready to face her first challenge of the 194th Mind Games.

**A/N: Please leave me a review to tell me what you think about it!**

**Should I continue?**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you all for the support and reviews! I hope you will enjoy this chapter! Oh, and in the future, if any of you have any ideas for a challenge for any of my characters, don't hesitate to PM me! I'll try to see if I can add it in!**

**Haruka (Yeah, changed my name)**

The cave was not as dark as the tunnel had let on, it seemed lit by an artificial Sun somewhere, and there were huge trees everywhere. There was a single stone path through the trees that Luka assumed she was to follow.

She walked, all senses on high alert, knowing that anything could happen in this strange, jungle-like cavern. She would not put anything below the despicable creatures that had captured them, for after all, how merciful could aliens who enjoyed human suffering get? Luka tensed when she detected a loud buzzing noise somewhere in the trees to her left, wondering what in the world could make such a racket. By loud she meant _loud_, loud enough to rival the roar of a jumbo jet's engines.

She turned instinctively and narrowly avoided the source of the sound that swooped at her. Her attacker landed a glancing blow on her armor, and ended up thrown back in the direction it had come. She had a good view of the creature now, a very good view.

Now, Megurine Luka was not afraid of insects, but this was just crazy. Absolutely **crazy**.

Hovering before her was a hornet that was about ten feet tall; its huge wings generated a draft so strong it almost blew Luka away. Its eyes were gigantic, larger than soccer balls, and its stinger gleamed with a poison she did not feel like trying out.

Where the heck did the Game Masters get a ten foot hornet? Was she seriously expected to face up with the beast and kill it? Luka gritted her teeth and tightened her grip on her katana, waiting for the hornet to strike once more.

It did not disappoint, quickly coming in for yet another swing at her, and Luka sidestepped at the last possible moment while bringing her sword in contact with the creature's huge body. The thin metal blade easily passed through the enormous hornet, splattering green slime over the ground and Luka's body. She grimaced, wiping off as much of the slime as she could, suspicious. It had been too easy; a single strike had slit the creature in half and assured her victory. It was unlikely that her captors were that merciful.

She shrugged and continued to walk, deciding not to waste any time waiting for more to be thrown at her. Another oversized hornet came within minutes, and soon enough the entire colony of those beasts were surrounding Luka, arriving in droves. The sound of their wings engulfed everything, and the draft from their wings blew everything about. The creatures tried to jab at Luka with their stingers, large black eyes boring into her furiously; they seemed not to like prey that could dodge around and attack back.

She was immensely grateful that her opponents were all huge and she was small, for she could easily dodge between them and creatures of such bulk had no stealth whatsoever. Their loud buzzing and the draft generated by their enormous wings always gave them away. The creatures' attack plan, which was basically to mob their smaller opponent, backfired as they ended up stabbing one another; they possessed extremely potent venom, evident from the fact that they killed one another upon contact.

It was not long before twelve foot spiders and eight foot mosquitoes joined in the fray, and Luka had a tough time trying to fight her way through the horde of bugs. She was relying on instinct, pure and simple, by then; in a battlefield you never lived long if you thought too much. You just responded, and the speed of those responses determined if you lived or died. Every soldier who had fought a war before would tell you that it was some gut feeling to hit the ground that saved him from a bullet or flying shrapnel, or an inner voice that warned him not to step on a certain spot that saved him from land mines.

Luka dodged under a stinger and rolled away from a spider's jaws, slashing a long hairy leg and slitting a mosquito in half; her eyes were wild and darted from enemy to enemy, her hair was a mess and her entire being splattered in green slime.

Her mind was a complete blank, she was simply fighting for her life and could not waste even a moment thinking about anything were she to keep it. Luka attacked when she saw an opening, and defended or dodged when she sensed an attack. Onward she forged, fighting relentlessly, littering the ground behind and around her with the bodies of the slain alien creatures.

She walked and fought for what seemed like hours before she spotted a huge tunnel at the other end of the pathway. That was her goal, she thought, the way to either supplies or time with her beloved girlfriend Miku.

So close… She was so close…

A huge soldier ant came barreling her way at a speed unimaginable for a creature its size and bulk, and a large killer bee came swooping by Luka, missing her completely. She dodged and fell upon them furiously, determined to be the victor, but it grew harder for Luka to imagine victory and survival as more of the huge insects arrived in droves. Scratches marked her exposed skin and she had sustained several bruises from being tossed around like a salad by her attackers. The armor did significant damage in return to her opponents, but the harm done to Luka was not ignorable. It was tough for her to continue fighting, her enemies were arriving in double-digit numbers fresh and battle-ready, while she was rapidly growing exhausted and weary.

"Shit!" Luka cursed when a huge soldier ant's heavy blow threw her sideways at a tree. The impact rattled her teeth, knocked the wind out of her lungs and literally left her seeing stars for a while. Winded, Luka scrambled onto her feet and dodged a killer bee's attack, goading it into helping her pierce the soldier ant's thick skull and killing it along with itself.

She was close to her goal now, a few meters away from the tunnel that was most probably the exit, a few meters away from a reunion with Miku, however brief it might be. The thought gave Luka hope, her love burned high and strong, and she blazed her way through the remaining oversized insects with ease. She destroyed a few of the alien creatures in a single slash of her sword, determined to quickly get the challenge over with.

Forcing her aching muscles into a run, Luka sprinted through the opening and into another set of stone tunnels that looked like the ones she had originally come from hours ago. At the far corner was the alien male in the suit she had seen standing over Miku's cage. He took one look at Luka, wild-eyed, hair matted, bruised and breathless, and laughed. It was a cruel, amused sound that made Luka grit her teeth and tighten her grip on the slime-spattered katana in her hands.

"Now, now, human," he laughed airily, still speaking in his strange language, "None of that. Remember, this girl's life is in my hands; are you willing to risk it?" He gestured toward the caged Miku, who was either unconscious or asleep as she was motionless and breathing very deeply. Noticing where Luka's attention was, the alien laughed once more, "She was too noisy, so I knocked her out." A cruel grin etched his features, "**She really loves you, you know.**"

Luka's heart and teeth clenched, her body stiffened visibly, as the alien continued gleefully, "Though I was torturing her, she only thought of _you_. She begged me to hurt her as I pleased, as long as I _left you alone_."

Her heart ached; it sounded like her beloved Miku alright. Miku's love for Luka was equally strong as Luka's for her in return, possibly stronger, and it hurt the pink haired girl to think that her beloved girlfriend was suffering because of love. Miku had suffered enough, losing her parents and home the way she had, the judgments she constantly faced for her sexuality, the bigots that pulled her down and hurt her… the turquoise haired teenager has felt enough pain for a lifetime. She should not have to feel any more!

"Go clean up," the alien male gestured to a bathroom that had suddenly appeared in a separate cavern to the left, "I'll wake her when you are done. From the moment she is conscious, you have _one hour. _No more, no less."

Luka obeyed, disgusted with herself for doing so, but she had no other choice. Miku's life was at stake, and there was no hope in Hell of her ever risking something so important, even for the chance of wringing that Game Master bastard's neck.

The cool water was a welcome relief to her battered, scraped, sweaty and slime-splattered body, and Luka enjoyed it for as long as she could. Her injuries would heal with time and were not life-threatening, though they did look rather nasty against the pale backdrop of her silky skin. She wondered how much time she would get before her next challenge; she doubted she was capable of repeating her earlier feat in her current condition.

When she stepped out of the shower, clean and smelling strongly of her natural, cherry blossom scent, her body was instantly dried and dressed in her armor, cleaned, mended and fresh-smelling, and Luka exited the bathroom in surprise.

"We don't want to see dirty, sweaty, smelly female humans in combat," the alien seemed to have read her mind, unnaturally glowing ruby eyes boring into her, "So we keep you clean. Nicer to watch, you see. Don't worry; viewers can only see you when you are decent. We always cut out the cleaning, and when we talk to you. Viewers aren't here to watch that, you see." He seemed to have picked up Luka's discomfort at the thought of bathing live on some galaxy-wide television show.

The pink haired girl suppressed her string of vulgarities and watched in silence as the Game Master waved his hand, which caused the cage to open and tip over to spill Miku roughly onto the stone floor. Luka winced, glaring at the alien who took no notice of it, and rushed to her turquoise haired angel's side just as her beautiful eyes began to open.

"_One hour,_ human," the alien said in an all too cheerful voice before disappearing into thin air. All exits from the room faded with him, leaving the two of them in a brown stone box with no chance of escape.

"Luka!" Sobbing, Miku threw her arms around her beloved, desperately inhaling the beautiful scent of the girl she loved. It pained Luka to see how hurt Miku looked, both physically and emotionally. The tortures that she had undergone were nothing to laugh at, evident from her bruised and torn skin, ragged clothes and matted twintails.

"Miku…" Luka gently untangled the length of her beloved's amazing hair, breathing in her hypnotizing scent before kissing her forehead softly, "Oh goddess, Miku, I'm so sorry…"

"It's not your fault," Miku pulled her face away from Luka's shoulder, tears still leaking from her eyes, "Luka… you have to get out of here."

"No way," the pink haired girl responded instantly, stiffening completely. Miku opened her mouth to protest, to urge her beloved to save her own life, but Luka cut her off before she could speak.

"I'm not going to leave you behind, Miku. I love you," her eyes shone with her sincerity, it melted Miku's heart, "I'm going to get us both out of here, or die trying."

The turquoise haired girl wrapped her arms around her girlfriend and sobbed, touched yet hurt by her beloved's words. She was touched that Luka loved her so much to play such a sinister game for her, and she was hurt because she felt it was entirely her fault that Luka was fighting with her life on the line and being hurt. Luka could not fathom the agony Miku was feeling deep within her small being, she could only embrace her tightly and stroke the back of her head, trying her best to enjoy the limited amount of time they had together.

"Stay strong, Miku, and don't let them break you," Luka told her beloved, "I will come for you and I will not die. I promise you, we're going home together."

Miku nodded, still crying, and choked out a shaky "I love you" as the last of their hour faded away. Aware of the rapidly lessening time, Luka whispered those three words back to Miku and then kissed her tenderly, passionately, sealing their promise with their love and their tears. This cruel game would not break them, they were the ones for each other, they were sure of it. They were each a single wing on the butterfly that was their lives, without either of them, it would die and fade away…

"Your hour is up," the Game Master returned and did not look at all surprised to see the two girls kissing. They parted reluctantly and the cage reappeared around Miku, separating her from her beloved once more. Their eyes met, burning with a heartfelt, honest love, before the Game Master disappeared along with Miku.

A single tunnel appeared, and Luka exited the room from it. The moment she did, she heard a loud booming voice, the same one as the voice she had first heard when she entered, announce, "Megurine Luka has completed her first challenge."

She wondered if the aliens watching this cruel game show were enjoying themselves, supporting such cruelty as they ate and lounged before their televisions, safe and happy. Hatred boiled within her and she cursed loudly, shouting Japanese vulgarities that the broadcasters probably would cut out of the show for the sake of younger viewers.

Luka did not particularly care about the corruption of young alien minds, in her opinion they were already corrupted anyway. Loathsome, inhumane bastards…

"Luka-san, is that you?" she heard a familiar voice and looked around her to see her ally, Akita Neru, sitting in a corner with a bandaged arm. She looked exhausted as well; it made Luka wonder what her challenge had been. "Colorful language," Neru commented, wincing slightly when she shifted her arm, "Never thought someone as ladylike as you would use such words."

Luka chuckled as she settled down gingerly next to Neru, "Thanks." They both laughed dryly before settling into silence once again; the first challenge they had faced reinforced the hopelessness of their situation and they felt terrible.

"Did you get to see your girl, Luka-san?" Neru asked suddenly, Luka nodded in response and asked if the blonde had gotten to see her girl as well. Neru nodded, "Haku was in a pretty bad way. Those bastards, how could they do this to her? F**k!" The pink haired girl repeated the vulgarity, it was indeed a good time to swear and curse. It also made them feel a little better, blowing off steam by use of colorful vocabulary.

"What was your challenge like, Neru-san?" Luka asked, curious to find out what in the world the aliens had in store for everyone in this torturous game.

"Snakes as long as a subway train, six of them," Neru shuddered, "Two non-venomous, the rest…" Luka understood, choosing not to pry any further. It really was not something one would want to remember. "I'm not scared of snakes but… I think I'll be scared of subway trains," Neru joked; it managed to make them both laugh. The wound was sustained from the fang of one of the venomous snakes, Neru explained, the venom made her blood feel like fire. When she stumbled, half-dead, through the tunnel, the Game Master had given her the antidote, but left the wound as it was. It seemed that they only wanted their game pieces alive, not in good shape.

It was not long before they heard "Sakine Meiko has completed her first challenge." Not long after that, Meiko found them and settled beside them, tired out, she too had managed to get an hour with her beloved Kaito. He had been hopping mad, he couldn't believe his beloved girlfriend was being forced into such a game, but he was as helpless as the rest of them and could only encourage her that they could make it home together.

"The first challenge seems to deal with oversized creatures," Neru had commented when they learned of Meiko's challenge, fighting a tiger the size of King Kong. It had been a tough fight and Meiko was bruised like an apple that had rolled down a hill, but she had not sustained any major injuries as she had been too small for the tiger's claws and teeth to catch properly. They had laughed, but it was short and half-hearted as they dreaded what would come for them next.

"Suzuki Reiko has failed her first challenge. Suzuki Reiko and Sasazaki Akihisa are dead." The first death of the Mind Games was announced a few hours after Meiko reunited with them, and the face of a pretty brown haired girl was beamed on the ceiling of every tunnel to mark the girl's death. The boy Akihisa, her lover, was not shown.

The news of a fellow competitor's death struck the trio hard as the reality of the Games hit them even harder than before. Someone had _**died**_, it could easily have been one of them. It could easily be one of them next. The idea of home, of safety and of their old, happy lives started to fade as the cruel reality of the Mind Games where death stalked settled in as their new, inescapable reality.

_**Elsewhere**_…

"_Has anyone caught your eye yet, Dredor?" an alien male asked another, watching over the footage of every single tunnel and challenge room. The wall is filled with monitors that show many different girls, some alone and some in groups, scattered around the expanse of tunnels._

"_Yes, the pink haired girl. Did you see the look she exchanged with her girlfriend? The love that burned there is real, pure, and it will not be crushed. I'm quite sure the Game's already gone to her," Dredor replied, editing the footage for the screening of the Games on prime time television that night. They only had three hours for the show and twelve times that amount of footage, so he was cutting out boring parts and shifting around from competitor to competitor to show all their exciting fight scenes. He also took all the touching scenes from the competitor's hour long reunions with their beloved and was currently editing in Luka's reunion with Miku._

"_Megurine Luka, her name is, and she sure is an interesting girl. What a list of vulgarities!" the other alien chuckled, "Akita Neru too, the love between her and her girl is strong."_

"_Much stronger than those girls here who love boys," Dredor nodded, "Humans say love between two girls is not 'real love'. Pah, what rubbish. __**Girls in relationships with other girls love one another truly because there are so many risks in coming out. Who in the right mind would come out for false love?**__"_

_The other alien nodded in agreement, "Humans aren't the brightest after all, Dredor."_

"_You can say that again," Dredor chuckled as he continued editing the footage, "Now, let us get ready for the bets to start rolling in!"_

**A/N: I hope this was enjoyable…**

**Should I continue?**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks for the rather… violent …support that you guys have given me! It really warms a budding author's heart to see people enjoy her work! (Yes, I am female). If you have any suggestions for challenges, please do not hesitate to PM me! Dreaming them up for Neru or Meiko will be a great help!**

**To Truna, I am really honored and happy that you think so well of my stories and that they touch you; I write with the purpose to make people understand what others might be going through emotionally so they won't judge, but will accept and encourage instead.**

**To YaKuKu, hi-five, I agree with you! Forbidden love is usually the strongest, because they have so much to lose…**

**To Chinensis' Fan, my country is also against homosexuals and I know a number of homophobic people… I am grateful that when I came out of the closet, some of my homophobic friends changed their mind about homosexuality since they wanted to see me happy. I wish the world could have more people like them, don't you?**

Somewhere in the many hours of waiting in dread in the cold, hard tunnels, Luka had fallen asleep and had a peaceful, beautiful dream about better times, times she clung onto for hope and sanity.

_That night after Luka's confession, the new couple was curled up in Luka's large bed, legs and arms entangled, Luka on top of Miku. Both of them could hardly believe what had happened, that morning they had started out as just friends keeping secrets from one another, and now they have become completely honest with each other._

_It had started with Luka inviting Miku to bunk at her house since she ran out of funds to continue staying in the dingy motel she had been living in for months. The turquoise haired girl had refused, feeling unworthy of staying in the same house as a girl as clean and pure as Megurine Luka. The pink haired girl insisted upon it, saying that she did not want a sweet and innocent girl like Miku sleeping on the polluted, unsafe streets. Miku snapped; the breaking of her emotional barriers was almost audible._

"_I'm not innocent at all, Luka," she had sobbed, suddenly breaking down, "Do you know why I am homeless? I was disowned for being a lesbian! That's what I am, a dirty, unclean __**dyke**__!"_

_Luka had been taken aback, not by Miku's sexuality but by her outburst. In the six months that they knew one another, the petite turquoise haired girl had never once raised her voice against anyone. Sweet as sugar, Miku was loved by all of Luka's friends and even complete strangers who just met her at cafés or restaurants or motel lobbies. She was a girl who would apologize to you if you kicked her. Miku read Luka's shock quite differently, she was shaking as she choked out, "I understand if you don't want to see me anymore… Who wants to know a dyke anyway?"_

_Luka grabbed the girl's slender shoulder before she could leave, "Don't go, Miku." Said turquoise haired girl turned back in shock as Luka continued, "I don't care that you're lesbian. Actually, it makes me happy that you're a lesbian." Taking a deep breath, the pink haired girl told herself, __**It's now or never, Luka, come clean to her. **__Drawing up all her courage, Luka confessed, "I love you, Hatsune Miku."_

_Miku was shocked, to say the least, and broke down into tears again, "I love you too, Luka!"_

_After that, Miku moved in to Luka's modest apartment, and they both poured out their secrets to one another. The turquoise haired girl revealed the painful details of her past, disowned and thrown out to die in the streets simply because she wanted to tell her parents she was attracted to girls before she started any serious relationships. The pink haired girl had poured out her own life story as well; she was bullied for her hair color and people always called her elder brother, Megurine Luki, gay because of his cherry blossom pink hair. Luki killed himself when Luka was eleven; that was what motivated her to become a Psychology student, so she could help people and prevent a tragedy like Luki's suicide from ever happening to anyone else._

_Curled up in that bed, sharing the warmth of their bodies, both girls pushed aside the hurt that they harbored deep inside so they could enjoy that simple moment of laying with the one they loved. Their eyes met, no words needed to be said, and their lips met shortly after._

_Life was now perfect, for they had one another._

She awoke now disoriented and confused. _Where am I?_ She wondered, looking around for a while until the memories struck her, _Oh yeah; I'm in a weird arena in the Andromeda Galaxy… F**k…_ Her stomach growled and she opened her backpack, shoving the first aid kit back to reveal the few days' worth of food and water stuffed at the very bottom of the yellow bag.

There were a few apples, two pears, a couple of oranges, a packet of biscuits, a bag of bread, preserved ham slices and a few ready-to-eat cans of Luka's favorite food, tuna. The drinks were bottled water, and a single can of Milo. Luka found it weird; there was Milo in Andromeda…? Talk about business expansion…

Meiko and Neru woke to the sound of loud crunching as Luka dug into an apple, reluctant to eat too much. She did not know when she would receive food supplies and decided to start rationing her food.

"What time is it?" Meiko asked groggily, digging in her own backpack for food. Neru shrugged in response, also rifling through her own pack. Meiko found a bottle of _sake_ instead of Milo, and Neru had orange juice. It seemed the aliens were kind enough to pack food and drinks to suit their liking.

"A new morning begins now! Every single new morning will bring a fun change to the tunnels you can deal with together. Sabotaging of one another is not allowed, but will be overlooked if it is accidental," the alien's booming voice rang through the tunnels just as the trio had finished their fruits. Just then, a loud rumbling filled the tunnels, and a shriek reached them.

The three girls leapt to their feet as a girl with short green hair in green armor sprinted by them, her arm bleeding badly and her eyes wild. The girl stopped when she saw them, as if unable to process the fact that there were other humans in the terrible tunnels alongside her. Before she could say a word, the creatures that had attacked her appeared.

There were about eight of them, black shapes that were definitely _not_ human shapes armed with black weapons. They looked like they were made from shadow, and they moved as silently as shadows. The girls draw their weapons, forming a physical wall between the creatures and the injured, shivering girl crouched behind them.

Neru attacked first, being an archer allowed her to attack before her enemies could harm her. The beasts fell in great heaps, taken out by arrows through the head, for the blonde was not sure if they had hearts but was sure they had some sort of mind which would hopefully kill them when destroyed. The stream of the beasts slowed as they stumbled over their comrades' corpses, making easy targets for Neru.

The blonde's aim was deadly; her small build sure gave nothing away about that. Every arrow that left her bow struck true, she did not fire a single shot that missed her target by even an inch. However, there were many more of those shadow creatures pouring into the tunnel, and they were getting closer and closer.

Luka and Meiko fell on the creatures the moment they came within attacking range; red and pink swooped through the field like brilliant flames, consuming their enemies. Meiko's skill with the long sword was impressive; the brunette utilized her range and double-edged blade fully, as if she had been born to use such a sword. Luka herself could only use single-edged blades as she instinctively used only one side of the blade. Of course, a katana would never lose out to a simple long sword; Luka could destroy more enemies in a single slash than Meiko could and attack so much faster. All the girls paid no notice to that, but the viewers and staff of the Mind Games did. Aliens like Dredor carefully watched the eleven surviving girls, seeking those with strong love for their partners and good fighting skills.

After all, the Mind Games took bets, and they were looking for a strong female human to support and hopefully gain both money and entertainment from.

The battle finally ended when the tide of enemies stemmed; the girls were exhausted and sweaty from their effort. The creatures' bodies faded into the ground, leaving behind the arrows for Neru to reclaim. While the blonde was collecting arrows, Luka and Meiko turned to the green haired girl from before.

"Do you need help with that?" Luka asked awkwardly, gesturing to the girl's arm. There was no time for small talk then; the girl's life could be in danger.

The girl nodded, still trembling, and Luka leaned over to help treat the girl's wounded arm, grateful for the first aid courses school forced her to go through. She never thought such skills would ever come in handy; it was difficult to imagine that you would ever get a sword cut in your ordinary, mundane life on Earth after all.

"I am Sakine Meiko," the brunette tried to comfort the green haired girl by letting her know she was around actual humans, "This is Megurine Luka, and the grumpy blonde archer is Akita Neru."

"Did you just call me grumpy?" Neru asked loudly, glaring at Meiko while bent over, midway in the process of retrieving one of her arrows. The brunette just laughed, and the blonde huffed and muttered something about her hatred for humans other than Haku under her breath.

"M-Megpoid G-Gumi…" the green haired girl responded shakily, "Seventeen, from Osaka."

Luka finished wrapping the girl's arm and they sat around talking about Osaka, comforting the newcomer to their group while getting to know one another more. They learned that Gumi too was a lesbian; she was fighting for the sake of her girlfriend of a year, Kagamine Rin, a young, energetic and cheerful blonde of fourteen years. Rin had short hair and blue eyes, and wore a large white ribbon that resembled rabbit ears on the top of her head. It suited her personality perfectly, Gumi gushed, and the other girls could see the lively blonde in their minds' eyes.

Gumi told them about Rin's amusing younger twin brother, Kagamine Len, who was a boy that looked much more like a girl than he should. With blonde hair in a small ponytail and large blue eyes, Len was more "cute" than "handsome", and last Halloween they had made Len dress up as a princess while Rin was a vampire. What infuriated the girlish boy the most was the fact that every house they visited called him a cute and pretty princess and was convinced that he was a female. Those that knew the twins were firmly convinced that Len was actually Rin trying to play some sort of trick on them, and it annoyed him to no end.

The three listening girls laughed at the strange anecdote, they had never heard of a boy that was so astonishingly female ever in their lives. Gumi said that Len had boys chasing after him in droves, but unfortunately, the poor boy was straight.

"He fell in love with a girl with the longest turquoise hair," Gumi said, "She tied it in high twintails and she was the school's most loved, adorable, popular and kind girl. Her name was… Hatsune Miku, I think. She disappeared suddenly after school a while back, and Len was really upset. She never showed any interest in males, however…"

"Hatsune Miku," Luka echoed, shocked. Miku was from Osaka, and she had run all the way to Tokyo because she was disowned? The poor girl, it must have been terrifying for her to leave the town she knew and enter a strange one she knew little about. "That's the name of my girlfriend."

The green haired girl's eyes widened, and Luka continued to confirm that the girl was indeed as Gumi had described, pale and slender with long turquoise hair that sometimes looked mint green in the light. "Small world, huh?" Gumi had grinned, and Luka replied with, "Actually, it should be 'small Japan'."

The girls laughed, leaning awkwardly against the wall trying to look calm and happy when they were actually nervous and frightened. They had no idea when their next challenge would come calling, and it frightened them. Anything could happen, they all knew it well.

"Maybe we should explore the place," Meiko suggested, breaking the icy silence that had descended upon the small group, "We could find a safe camping spot or water or something."

"_Or a way out of here."_ The unsaid words hang in the air, almost tangible between them, and Gumi pounces immediately on the small hope, nodding eagerly. Luka and Neru shake their heads almost imperceptibly as their more hopeful teammates lead the way enthusiastically, Luka and Neru were realists while the other two were optimists.

The tunnels seemed endless and unpopulated, the girls did not encounter a single other life form aside from one another in their aimless wanderings. They found a number of dead ends which they reminded themselves to steer clear of, disliking the thought of ever being cornered, but found nothing to indicate a possible exit to the entire maze.

Gumi and Meiko's spirits had not dimmed, they were foolishly hopeful that there was a way out of this mess that they could find. Luka and Neru were just looking for a safe place to spend nights, so they would not get crushed by the morning challenges if they slept past whatever time it was that the aliens sent their strange monsters. They were also on the lookout for water, it was a valuable resource and they would rather have a fixed place to draw it from than rely on challenges to supply them with it. It just felt too unstable, what if the aliens purposely withheld water from your prize when you needed it most just to toy with you? Neither girl thought it beneath their captors to torture their players, since they were more than willing to kidnap lovers and tear them apart painfully.

They wandered a long way and grew weary when Luka suddenly tensed, "Do you hear that?"

Neru tilted her head to one side, listening, and her eyes brightened, "Water!"

It was the sound of running water, it was undeniable, and the girls headed off toward it with renewed vigor. They entered a large tunnel to find a sunny, grassy field with a river that ran from each end of the rock walls. There were even fruit trees along the river bank!

Gumi and Meiko broke out running toward the trees, making Luka and Neru roll their eyes. Meiko was the oldest of their group and Gumi the youngest, yet they both were behaving as if they were the same age. Luka and Neru, second and third oldest of the group respectively, seemed to be the adults in their hastily put together family.

"Watch out, there may be traps!" Luka called out to them warningly, they just waved their hands and continued running. It was then that Neru noticed something wrong, though the duo was getting further away from them, the trees did not seem the least bit closer. The blonde nudged the pink haired girl, who had also noticed it.

It was a trap, they both realized, but a little too late. In the distance between the girls, more shadow monsters like this morning's appeared, and they decided to charge after Meiko and Gumi, who had not noticed them yet.

"Meiko! Gumi!" ignoring the honorifics, Neru yelled out a warning as she nocked an arrow and fired. Speed and accuracy were Neru's forte; she was the top archer in Akita and possibly the entire Japan on the way to compete in the Olympics someday after all.

The duo turned, saw the monsters and drew their swords. Luka stayed by Neru's side, knowing that the creatures would soon come after Neru, the archer, who would be helpless when mobbed at close range. She was right, the shadow beasts split into two waves, and the pink haired swordsman quickly had her hands full with her own horde of the beasts. Grateful for her insistence as a child to take martial arts and kendo, Luka easily dodged the clumsy blows of the shadows and slashed them apart. Careful not to trip on the bodies of those she had slain, Luka started an intricate and breathtaking dance of life and death, moving with the grace, speed and lethality of a master kendo swordsman.

The aliens watching approved of both Neru and Luka, assured by both girls' strong feelings toward their lovers and their fighting abilities. Meiko and Gumi, along with the other competitors, were not as popular as most of the bets rolled in for Luka and Neru as able to survive the next challenge. Some people were even betting who victory would go to, Neru was currently the more popular candidate by about seventy dollars.

Back on the field, the girls were panting with exhaustion. The river was now reachable and they drank from it warily, it was clear and there were no strange beasts within it. They took turns keeping watch and drinking, and Luka washed the wound Meiko sustained in the battle and dressed it afterward. Knowing that they might not be able to return to this spot and that they might have to fight the beasts again if they did, the girls filled their bags with fruits, drank as much as they wanted and left. The tunnel closed behind them, locking them out of the supply filled cavern, and they wandered around to find a place to sleep for the night.

A day without any private challenge, they were suspicious. What awaited them the next day? They could not possibly imagine, all they knew was that morning would bring some sort of challenge first before anything else would happen.

That night, they found a shelf in the rock they could all fit into and went to sleep curled in tight balls, dreading the rise of the Sun, or whatever they call their main star in Andromeda, the next morning.

**Elsewhere**

"_The Games are very successful this year," an alien in a purple suit said, smoothing back his swirly blue hair, "I never imagined we would get such interesting competitors!"_

"_Megurine Luka is an interesting one," another alien in a green suit was looking at a screenshot of Luka's profile in the middle of a fight: eyes fierce, hair blown back from her face, body poised to strike or defend at any moment, "She looks graceful in battle; it has been years since we have had such a competitor, Sir."_

_The purple suited alien laughed, "Indeed, Valdor! And Akita Neru, what an archer! She'd give all our best archers a run for their money without even trying!"_

_Valdor, the green suited alien, nodded with a twisted grin. By human standards, he would be a stereotypical handsome man, with sharp features, tan skin, sandy blonde hair and a muscular form. By alien standards, however, he was average but unique, his hair was a rare color seen commonly in humans but barely in aliens, "Kasane Teto, the one with the weird hairstyle, how about her?" She was particularly interesting as well, but not in the way Megurine Luka and Akita Neru were._

"_Kasane, ah, I remember her. Not bad, she can fight like a beast," the purple suited alien chuckled in response, "No grace, just pure strength. She reminds me of a chimera in many ways... She'll last, but maybe not long."_

_Valdor nodded in agreement, the purple suited alien was his superior and he was to agree with him as much as possible if he wanted to keep his job and favorable conditions. He personally supported Megurine Luka, he had seen her full reunion with her girlfriend, Hatsune Miku, and he knew the girl-woman really cared for her lover. Her lover also loved her back very intensely; Hatsune Miku was the only one of the captured in the entire Mind Games' history to insist that her competitor lover escape without her. She was also the only lover in the history of the Mind Games to tell a Game Master that he could hurt her as he wished as long as he left her beloved alone. She had broken two records by being herself, her love was stronger than anything they had ever seen before._

"_The captured lovers are interesting too this year. That Hatsune girl especially," Valdor said; his superior nodded in response. They were all stunned by Hatsune Miku, to say the least, and a number of viewers had called in to donate money to the upkeep of the Hatsune girl. It was allowed in the Mind Games rules, but it had never happened before. The turquoise haired human's loyalty and love toward her lover, and her lover's in return for her, had touched the hearts of the aliens who were watching them suffer for entertainment. It is no easy feat._

"_The girl has the funds to eat every day, I can't say the same for the others," laughed the alien in the purple suit. Valdor laughed with him; they only kept the captives alive in the Mind Games, not in good condition. As long as they had the energy to scream when they were required to, they were perfect. They did not run an animal charity here; they were torturing humans for entertainment and betting upon their lives as if they were dogs fighting in a ring._

_However, the chance of survival of these dogs weighed less on physical capability and more on the intensity and sincerity of the love they felt. Megurine Luka and Hatsune Miku had that intensity, that sincerity and a strong loyalty between them, and that flame would raze even the smallest seeds of doubt that would soon try to take root in the Megurine girl's heart. Other girls, like the one that had already died, that had little to even no passion or sincerity in their feelings toward their lovers ended up dying first as the seeds of doubt took root and grew tall within the day. Throughout the Mind Games' history, the first to die was always a heterosexual couple, for it was more common for insincere relationships to take place in a socially acceptable couple than a socially rejected one. Whenever there were homosexual couples involved in the Games, it would always be a homosexual couple that won._

_Maybe they could give this research to the humans to prove to them that lesbian love, at least, was true love as well, Valdor chuckled inwardly. Though, it would make insincere homosexual couples possible, and no one would want that. Tough circumstances act as a crucible that melted away all pretense and insincerity to birth a pure, passionate love that would endure through any challenge, even challenges as cruel as these._

_The aliens of Andromeda watched and discussed the cruel game eagerly, awaiting the emotional pain to start ripping the competitors apart as doubt seeds their hearts and only those who feel true love remain…_


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait, exams have been a pain in the butt and I have been in an emotional slump I still haven't exactly recovered from. I hope this will be worth the wait! The idea for this chapter popped up while I was in the shower, which isn't the best place for ideas to appear, but I hope it is satisfactory!**

**To YaKuKu, I apologize but people will have to die for this story to continue. As for ex-lovers, hmm, it sounds interesting yet awkward. Maybe I'll try that with Lily x one of the Vocaloid girls that isn't Luka? Haha**

**To Truna, Mind Games is the only story I am doing in the past tense, which is probably why I switch around. Thanks for helping me catch my mistakes, and I hope you will continue to do that for me because I am quite the English Nazi and would hate to have English mistakes in my work!**

**To Dakimomoe, your name sounds familiar, is it from Phineas and Ferb or something? HAHA :D I am sorry for the wait and I hope this will meet your expectations of me as an author. I'm glad you love my work, it really warms my heart to have someone say that!**

**Haruka**

The announcement of the day's morning challenge jolted Gumi awake, nearly making her roll out of the rock shelf where they had spent the night. Neru had chuckled at the sight, amused, for the green haired girl was the last to wake amongst them, and they were all armed to the teeth and ready for battle.

They had no idea what to expect as the seconds ticked by in silence, alerted that the challenge had begun by distant shrieks of other girls fleeing from their opponents. Luka was tense, she had a bad feeling in her gut, and when their opponents appeared, she knew she was right.

The creatures they were supposed to fight were huge gleaming gold bulls that shot electricity from their metallic hides. Luka had no idea how they were supposed to tackle such creatures, but she drew her sword and leapt into battle determined to give those dumb cows a run for their money. Neru started to fire and when their hides chipped off, it was clear to all the girls that they were not animals but machines. Once Luka learned this, she pulled out her spare bottle of water, widened the hole in her enemy's hide, frayed as many wires as she could so the live wires were showing, doused the beast's internal circuitry with water and watched it short circuit.

The other girls quickly learned from Luka and short circuited their own enemies, watching the damn cows twitch in smoking heaps as they panted and wiped sweat from their foreheads.

"I will never see cows the same way again," Meiko sighed as she leaned against the rock wall, glaring daggers at the bulls' bodies. Neru chuckled, "I second you on that." Luka tried to smile, but it fell through by quite a lot. She was thinking, these electrical bulls could cause so much pain with a glancing blow, so how did it feel for her beloved Miku when she received a direct electric shock?

The thought made her skin crawl and her blood boil; she longed to tear out the throats of the sick aliens who were in charge of this terrible game. Neru, the more sensitive one in the group, put a hand on Luka's shoulder warningly, telling her to keep cool and levelheaded so they could think of what to do next properly.

Before Luka could thank the blonde, Gumi tensed and called out her girlfriend's name, eyes glazed. Recognizing this, the other girls watched as the green haired teenager sprinted off toward her next challenge, desperate to protect her beloved. The trio continued to walk until Meiko heard Kaito's cry and went to answer it, leaving only two of the original group to continue their wandering. A while later, Luka spun around when she heard a pained scream rip through the tunnels, "Luka!"

She tensed, and Neru smiled sadly at her and gave her an encouraging pat on the shoulder. Luka barely noticed, taking off in the direction of Miku's scream, while Neru took off toward Haku's.

Luka found herself facing the same alien male from before holding Miku captive in a cage. The green haired girl looked much worse than before, hair matted, cheeks sunken, eyes darkened; it made Luka boil with fury to see her beloved girlfriend in such a terrible state. The alien faded with the words, "You know the drill.", taking Miku with him and leaving the pink haired warrior alone in the stone tunnel.

Taking a deep breath, Luka steeled herself and entered the tunnel. The room she arrived in was large, with stone steps leading to a sort of balcony where another tunnel stood. There were no enemies in sight; the stone room was bare and eerily silent. She began to walk, a hand on her katana and all senses on high alert, wondering what in the world this challenge was about.

_Turn around!_ Her instincts screamed urgently and Luka obeyed, her sword a flash of white in the dull room, clashing with the sword of another. It was a creature with a human-like form in a black ninja outfit that had attacked her, and to Luka's surprise there were more and more of those beings materializing out of thin air around her.

Quick as a flash, Luka dismembered the creature that had first attacked her and launched at the others. They were not particularly strong opponents; their advantage was sheer numbers and the element of surprise. Luka dodged and whirled under and above them, but there was no end to the tide of approaching enemies.

She decapitated one to the left, punctured a lung to the right, dismembered another to the left, snaked past a few trying to corner her and slashed them all to pieces… Fatigue was starting to catch up to the pink haired woman, who could barely think straight in the haze of battle. Instinct drove her body much faster than any conscious thought could possibly hope to do; there was not an ounce of fear within her, only the strong will to survive. She dodged a knife to the head and countered, did a backflip to get out of the way of a chain of _shuriken_, dived to the ground to escape poisoned needles and slashed off quite a few feet, all the while pushing steadily closer to the staircase.

There were too many enemies; Luka knew she had no hope of making it out if this continued. Her progress was much too slow, she was already weary and she had not even crossed three quarters of the room. How could she battle her way up the stairs, through those few hundred meters between the stairway and the tunnel and get through to safety? There had to be a trick somewhere, there had to be. Something about these enemies that would help her get rid of them quickly…

Luka caught two of the _shuriken_ flying her way out of mid-air, fastened them to the heels of her shoes and launched herself at the wall in a quick, powerful motion. The points of the weapon dug into the stone easily, and Luka quickly launched herself higher to get out of the reach of her opponents. This trick would not work for long; her enemies were starting to figure it out for themselves already. They flickered amongst each other, making strange crackling noises. Wait. They _flickered_…?

Luka narrowed her eyes and realized that all the opponents below her were flickering ever so slightly like… _holograms._ That was it, wasn't it? The trick was that all these creatures are part of alien technology; holograms that could easily be replenished were they destroyed. So, where was their source? If she could find and destroy the source of these holograms, she would be able to get across the room easily and survive.

"Think, Luka, think," the pink haired warrior urged herself, narrowing her eyes and scanning through the flickering bodies, "There has to be something fishy going on here…" At the corner of her eye, she spotted an enemy who was not flickering like the rest. She focused her eyes on him and confirmed that he, indeed, was not the same as the rest. Was he the source of all the holograms of himself that Luka was dealing with? Well, since it was all she had, she might as well give it a shot and find out if her hypothesis was correct…

Luka launched herself at the single solid opponent, slashing the holograms in her way with ease and grace. The desire to survive, the desire to protect her beloved Miku drove the pink haired warrior forward, giving her strength to fight despite her fatigue. The solid opponent raised his sword and blocked, and the holograms launched themselves at Luka. He was trying to get away, thinking that Luka had gotten lucky in attacking him.

The pink haired warrior easily evaded the holograms, not at all bothered by them, lashing out at them with her spiked heels on occasion to send them crumpling to the floor in twitching, flickering heaps. Her burning blue eyes focused on her target with a single-minded determination, she would not lose him and would pursue him wherever he chose to flee.

Her sword met his neck and a burst of blood splattered over Luka and the nearby holograms. The man made a strangled noise and crumpled to the ground, where Luka proceeded to decapitate him. Blood, warm and red, stained the stone ground. For a moment, nothing happened, and Luka feared that she had gotten her hypothesis wrong and lost a sizable amount of ground chasing the man backward. Then, the holograms let out an annoyed hiss and faded, every last one of them, until only the original's broken body remained.

Even the weapons in Luka's heels faded, and the holes which they bore in her shoes magically closed up. The pink haired woman wiped the sweat from her forehead, took a long swig out of her water bottle and headed toward the stairway, still ready to fight. There were no more surprises or tricks left in her challenge, as she passed through the tunnel without incident.

The alien male was clapping when she entered the room he was in, Miku was not with him. That made Luka worried, yet relieved as her beloved was not present to be tortured before her eyes. The alien spoke in that strange language Luka had come to loathe with every fiber of her being, "Ingenious, human, absolutely ingenious. No one would have thought of scaling the walls to examine the enemy, nor even fathomed the thought of them being holograms."

Luka just snarled at him, she was in no mood to entertain him and was desperate to see her beloved again. The alien just laughed and said in an almost mocking tone, "Sorry, human, but your prize isn't your girl today. It's supplies for your journey." He gestured to a crate brimming with food and water, "Go take your shower and take as much as you like. You need energy to give us a good show."

The pink haired woman did as he said, washing the blood and grime from her skin and relaxing her battle-worn muscles, before filling her bag with all the things in the crate. She kept a wary eye on the alien Game Master the whole time she was in the same room with him, much to the beast's amusement. "I won't hurt you," he told her, "There's no fun in that, now is there?" Luka's response was to growl at him, sounding like a frustrated and angry tigress. The alien chuckled, "Feisty, aren't you? Admirable fighting spirit, human, I see why my people are betting mainly on you."

With that, he disappeared, leaving a gaping tunnel for her to leave the challenge and return to her friends. Luka whispered a barely audible promise to her girlfriend in that tunnel before she left it, "I'll get us out of here, Miku. I swear this on my life."

**[Meanwhile]**

Rows of cages side by side displayed an assortment of pitiful human beings, a mixture of male and female. Miku lay slumped in one of them, hungry and dazed from the electric shocks, cringing when a shaft of light fell across the darkened stone floor.

"Dinner," a voice mocked in a language that sent shivers down all the living prisoners' spines. The alien tossed a pathetically small apple at every single captive, laughing as they scrambled hungrily after it. He stopped at Miku's cage and opened the food tray compartment, though, and slid in a tray of rice, bread, meat and vegetables into Miku's prison. "They like you, little gal, be grateful," he snarled at her, she whimpered softly in response.

The alien had to admit that the girl was cute, much cuter than any of the girls he had ever seen in the centuries he had spent in the Mind Games workforce. She was much kinder than any human could ever possibly be, he suspected her a reincarnation of Mother Teresa or something of the like, but she was so much more helpless and puppy-like. He shook himself mentally, knowing that he could not feel pity for his charges, and continued tossing apples at the remaining captives. Most were male, which could never rouse his pity, but there were a number of females there and females were so much more delicate.

He walked out the door and closed it tight behind him, monitoring the security camera within the cells for any interesting footage to show on the Mind Games television broadcast. The moment he shut the door on them, Miku crawled forth to the food tray and dragged it to the back of the cage where she felt safer. Instead of digging in, however, she nudged the food toward the cage of a curvy white haired girl next to her, calling her name. The white haired girl was fragile and in a pretty bad state, emaciated and trembling like a leaf, she had the look of death about her. The man was worried for her, he had already called the doctor in and he was working on a one-shot cure for her.

"Haku," Miku's voice was raspy and dry, her throat felt like it had been coated with sand, "Haku, come on, you have to eat something." The white haired girl roused herself momentarily to look at the turquoise haired younger girl, letting out a small whimper. Miku stretched herself to hand the bread to the Haku, who was immediately alerted by the scent of food. Thanking the turquoise haired girl enthusiastically, the albino dug in ravenously under Miku's kind and gentle gaze.

"Hey… Miku, right?" another voice rasped, it belonged to a tall heterochromatic girl to the other side of Miku's cage; "Do you have anything else to spare? This little kid here… I'm afraid she won't make it." Miku nodded immediately, dragging her tired body and the food tray to the other side of her cage. Yokune Ruko, the girl housed next to her, smiled a tired little smile and gestured to the youngest girl of them all sprawled out on the floor of her cage.

Miku's smile faded when she recognized the small blonde with the rabbit-ear like ribbon, "Rinny!" At the sound of her nickname, the blonde tried to struggle to her feet, failing terribly. Miku was horrified seeing the fourteen year old girl who was so energetic and bubbly in her memory lying there, lifeless and gaunt, on the dirty stone floor. She quickly handed her rice to Ruko, who crawled over to Rin and urged the girl to eat desperately. The black haired woman had to spoon-feed the small blonde until feral hunger kicked in and the teen could feed herself. Relieved, Ruko leaned back and munched on her apple, trying to savor every small bite.

"Ruko-san…?" Miku's sweet little voice penetrated the dark, despairing air, "This is for you." She handed over half of the meat to Ruko, who thanked her and wolfed it down without question, too hungry to care that she had taken food from a sixteen year old child. From the other end of the room, more people requested for food, which Miku happily gave away. The males fought an squabbled over every morsel that Miku gave them, arguing over whose it was, making the alien scrunch up his nose in disgust.

Miku had left only her vegetables, which she happily gave to Haku to bring her strength back. Haku tried to decline, telling the turquoise haired girl it was all the food she had left, but Miku insisted and the two of them ended up sharing. Despite her hunger, the turquoise haired girl controlled herself remarkably well, picking at her favorite vegetables so as to allow the weaker Haku to eat more and not feel guilty about it. Ruko noticed, and annoyed by the squabbling of the males, said in a loud enough voice for everyone to hear, "Here is this sixteen year old girl giving out all her food and showing us how humans can still be kind under such terrible circumstances, and there we have a bunch of ungrateful males showing us the dark side of humanity."

The males instantly stopped their scrapping, feeling guilty and ashamed of themselves as they rightfully should. A teenager had just shown them the immense kindness humanity was capable of, reminding them of what it means to be human, and they just fought over the gifts of her warm heart. What kind of terrible creatures were they?

Outside the cell, the alien wiped away tears as he sent the footage to the Mind Games editing team, knowing that the turquoise haired girl's saint-like kindness would bring her much more benefits, which she would share with her fellow captives. Never in his life had he even fathomed the thought of a starving prisoner giving away food, but Miku had just showed him how large and warm a human heart could possibly be. The Andromeda Galaxy had never had the privilege of having such a sweet, kind girl in its territories, and the people that live within it are sure to shower this child with gifts of admiration and sympathy. Hopefully, it will make this ordeal less trying for the sweet human female.

"Your girlfriend sure knows how to pick a woman," the alien commented to himself, deciding to sneak Miku an extra leek later from his own rations, to make up for her lack of food. He had never felt this way about a captive before, as there was never a captive like her in the history of the Mind Games. Giving his own food away, and to a captive no less, not a single member of the Mind Games staff would ever dream of such a thing!

_In the darkness of such inhumane conditions, a small teenage girl showed us all what it truly means to have 'humanity'. This is a child who will touch many lives, a child who will definitely go places, a child the world will love to support. She must survive this; her lover must win these Games, so the world can enjoy this rare jewel's beauty for years to come._


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I was happily scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed one day and was surprised to see a Negitoro page's administrator mention me as one of his/her favorite authors. That led me to feel motivated to get my butt to work! I hope this chapter is an enjoyable one for all of you! I am dying here due to a boring Physics LMS video...**

**To Dakimomoe: I knew it! Haha:D Thank you for the compliment, I hope you will stick around to the end!**

**To theunhappytwins, I know Ruko is a hermaphrodite (9:1 Male:Female ratio, if I remember correctly), but for the sake of this story, she's female.**

**Haruka**

Walking down the silent tunnels, wounded and winded from her latest challenge, Meiko reminisced of the past as she awaited her allies' return. She remembered the reason she had become an alcoholic in the first place, rotting away in the corner of a bar until she was thrown out at closing time or when she passed out; it was not something she liked to remember, but hearing _her_ name had triggered Meiko's memories to pour forth.

Masuda Lily. She was here, somewhere in these tunnels fighting for the person she loved; the girl that Meiko had once loved with all her heart. There was a part of her that still longed after Lily, and as much as Meiko hated to admit it, she knew that she was not completely in love with Kaito. She would not make it very far with her halfhearted love, so unlike the intense affections her three allies felt for their girlfriends. She had tried to deny it, but hearing Lily's name through the speakers for the first time… it broke her. All those painful memories came pouring out, unstoppable and unforgettable; it hurt so much that she had nearly doubled over and collapsed on her knees.

Lily was a playgirl; Meiko knew that well when she engaged in a relationship with the blonde all those years back. She was fully aware that Lily could leave any time, flitting around like a butterfly from boy to girl to girl to boy and to girl again. The brown haired girl thought she would be perfectly fine when Lily left for another, for she felt that the blonde was not being serious and they were just playing about. It hurt to think that Lily was just dating her for fun, but Meiko endured it because she loved Lily and just wanted to be with her.

Nothing could have prepared Meiko for the reason they broke up, four years later, for it was nothing she had ever expected. Four years was a long time for a playgirl like Lily to commit to a single person, this was the first of the blonde's relationships to last more than four weeks, but Meiko refused to let herself think that Lily was being serious. She still flirted around and had a ravenous libido Meiko could never hope to satisfy, it seemed as if she were simply playing around with a toy that had caught her interest for an unusually long time.

They began to argue because of Lily's increasing possessiveness, it all ended when Meiko yelled, _"The whole thing's just a game to you, isn't it? You never really loved me, did you?! So why are you being so damn possessive?"_ The blonde had been taken aback, shock and pain spreading over her magnificent features, _"If you think so badly of me, why are you still here? Why have you bothered to stay for four years?" "Because I love you!"_ Meiko was on the verge of tears, trembling all over from the intense emotions that filled her body.

"_And I love you," _Lily had said gently, causing the brunette to respond, _"So you say, to me, and to every girl or boy with a nice figure that walks by." _Hurt but not offended, the blonde sighed, _"You don't trust me, and I don't blame you."_

Taking a deep breath, the blonde had said,_ "Meiko, it all ends today. I love you, but this is wrong. You're not happy here, and because of that I should not be making you stay. I really wanted this to last, to be perfect, but it obviously is not, and you are suffering. I really hope that I will be able to see you smile in the arms of someone who loves you like I do someday, but for now, we have to be strong and go our separate ways."_ Lily was crying, something she had never done in her life, and it hurt Meiko deeply to see her beloved like that. Refusing to be interrupted, Lily continued, _"You can't change my mind, Mei-chan. The most we can be now is friends, I hope you will understand. It's for your good, because you will never be happy with me, and a girl like you deserves happiness."_

She smiled a weak and watery smile, pain clear in her every feature. _"Goodbye, sweetheart, this is the end."_ Lily's retreating figure, fading into the distance… that was the last the brunette saw of her beloved. Their strained relationship fell apart completely, Lily moved away to Shikoku, and Meiko began drinking. She was eighteen then, still very much of a kid, and she wasted away there for a year and a half. It surprised her that her liver was still functioning, considering the amount of alcohol she had downed to drown her sorrows.

"Lily…" Meiko sighed, her fingers running along the cold surface of her scarlet red armor, "Oh goddess…" Pressing herself against the wall, the brunette slumped against the rocks and hit the ground, eyes wet with tears. She had never let Lily go completely; deep within her, that love from her childhood still existed. It was a small flower hidden under the one that had bloomed for Kaito, but it was there nevertheless. Meiko was in love with two people… she would never make it out alive.

It was not long later when Gumi returned, followed closely by Luka. Neru came much later, when night was approaching, and she looked like she had been to Hell and back. Cursing and spitting like a wounded cat, Neru hurled abuse about the aliens of Andromeda, letting out string after string of colorful vocabulary. Chuckling faintly, the girls huddled together and ate, having no words to say at all. What could they say when the memory of battle was so fresh? Nothing, absolutely nothing.

Another person died that day, another heterosexual girl, it meant that ten of them remained in the Games. Well, it meant less competition, and since they did not know neither the girl nor the boy, they were perfectly fine with it. Save for Gumi, none of them liked humans in particular, especially Neru the sociopath.

That night, they did not say a word to one another. All they did was sleep, trying to shake off the trauma that gripped them in stunned silence and bound them as if they were dead. The Games were starting to get to them, dampening their hopes and dimming the light in their eyes. Now, the "Mind" part of the Games would begin to take effect, the drama that the aliens sought after would soon arrive.

**[The Next Day]**

That morning's challenge bypassed them for some reason, probably because the other girls got to the enemies first, and the little team were all wary of what was to come. They could not possibly be so lucky as to spend an entire day in peace in these tunnels, extra beasts would come for them when they least expected it, every single one of them was sure of it.

And they were right.

A scream tore through the tunnels, one that was definitely not human, and all the girls leaped up and armed themselves for combat just as a wounded blonde stumbled by them. Masuda Lily. Luka grabbed the girl and pulled her into the middle of the group, drawing her blade and immediately plunging into combat with the creatures that were chasing Lily. They were shapeshifters of some sort, their faces changing into those of the people Luka knew back in Tokyo, some even morphing into Miku. Gritting her teeth, Luka reminded herself these hateful creatures were not the girl she loved, easily annihilating the lot of them single-handed. Meiko was frozen with shock and Gumi leaped in to defend her when the monsters came too close, gritting her teeth and cursing loudly when they morphed into her Rin.

"F**k you! How dare you take on her form, bastards?!" Neru dropped her bow and rammed straight into the shapeshifters with a broadsword, hurling profanities at them as her blood boiled in her veins. How dare they, who hurt her beloved, take on her form? They were polluting Haku's pure and vulnerable beauty, it pissed Neru off to no end.

It was not long before the creatures' corpses disappeared; Neru's opponents were hacked to unidentifiable bits that she swore at and stepped on in her fury. The adrenaline ebbed away and the group turned to face the newcomer, a slender and tall blonde with blue eyes whose sapphire gaze burned into Meiko. Her armor was yellow and black and she had what looked like a superficial wound along her side. Before Luka could offer her help, the warrior breathed in an awed, pained voice, "Mei-chan…"

"L-Lily…" Meiko hated herself for wavering, hated herself for being on the verge of tears. In her rasping, deep voice that reminded the brunette of dark chocolate, the blonde said, "I shouldn't be fighting here for him… I should be fighting here for _you…_" That hurt Meiko much more than it would if the blonde had found herself a person she really loved. Standing there before the girl she loved, the girl who loved her still, Meiko found her throat dry and her eyes wet, her knees buckling beneath her.

Shaking her head, Lily gathered her strength and steeled herself for the pain, "Have you found someone who makes you happy?" A lump formed in the blonde's throat when Meiko nodded, tears threatening to roll down her cheeks, but what hurt her most were the words that followed. "No one could hope to replace you, though." Emotion flowed thickly in the air between them, the pained love and longing that they had shared…

_I love them both equally, is that even possible?_ Meiko threw her arms around Lily and started to sob, hating herself for her weakness but loving the gentle way the blonde stroked her head and whispered kind words into her ear, it brought her back to all the days of snuggling and messing about in Lily's room at night, sometimes making love until the sun rose and they lay, panting, side by side… She should have known that Lily had been serious; a playgirl would never stay with the same toy for four years. Especially not a girl like Lily, who tired of them within weeks. She should have known…

"Meiko?" Neru's voice was uncharacteristically gentle, "Mind introducing us to your friend?" Looking up at the amber eyed younger girl, Meiko said, "This is Masuda Lily." The blonde holding her cracked a brief smile and croaked a hello, wincing from the pain in her side. Luka quickly tended to it as Lily and Meiko told their story in turn, each taking over for the other when it hurt too much to continue. In Shikoku, Lily had tried filling the chasm Meiko left in her chest with booze, smoking and girls (and some boys), engaging in brief flings as she did before, always leaving within the week. The boy she was fighting for was an old friend who had always really loved her, but Lily was merely using him as another fling to take Meiko out of her mind.

"I won't live long here," Lily sighed, "My feelings for him aren't true." In a painfully small voice, Meiko said, "Nor will I, because I love both you and him." Gumi immediately protested at them saying such negative things, but Luka and Neru remained silent. They had only loved one person in their entire lives and that was the girl they were fighting for, they had no doubts and were sure they never would have any. They could not understand, and decided that it was not their business to understand anyway.

Indeed, the drama was beginning. Within Meiko's heart, two flowers bloomed, and there was no way she could ever have them both. At this rate, she would end up six feet under, unable to save anyone she loved…

_**[Elsewhere]**_

"_This is most interesting, don't you think, Dredor?"_

"_Indeed. Who would have thought we would see ex-girlfriend drama this year?" Dredor laughed as he edited the footage, ensuring that there was enough space for the scene of Meiko and Lily's dramatic reunion and their story. "If Masuda were fighting for Sakine, they'd be on the level of Akita and Megurine. However... they are apart and one is fighting for a fling while the other half-hearted love. I give them four more challenges maximum, they'd be dead beyond that for sure."_

_The other alien agreed with him, the blonde, Masuda Lily, felt true and heartfelt love for a fellow competitor and not her so-called boyfriend. This turned all the odds against her; it was unlikely that she survive much longer. The Games operated on a system that automatically granted the challenger victory as long as they remained determined and unfaltering throughout._

"_May I ask… what are they doing now?" heat rose to the young alien's cheeks when he chanced upon the current scene of the small group. All of them were asleep in a rock shelf save for Sakine and Masuda, who were around the corner with their armor shed, hands running over one another, lips meeting and tongues entwining…_

"_Making love, it seems," Dredor chuckled, amused, "Neither of them will make it far, this is proof enough." Moans filled the little editing room as they watched the two lovers celebrate their reunion, tongues running over one another's sacred spots, emotions thick around and between them. Entangled in one another they lay, panting, and Masuda whispered softly, "I can die in peace now, Mei-chan. I've had all I ever wanted." To their surprise, the blonde said, "I will not fight any longer."_

_If Masuda really did not fight in her next challenge, it would be the first suicide in the Mind Games' history. This year had so many firsts; they sure had picked their competitors well. The emotions that they watched this Game to see, all of it was thick and intense this year, save the few heterosexual girls in false relationships for the sake of it. The only heterosexual relationship with love in it this year is the half-hearted one between Sakine and her boy, Shion, which was a pretty sad turnout. However, the homosexual and bisexual girls sure made up for the lack of excitement in the hetero region with their own intense, heated feelings._

_This was the best Mind Games ever. There were two girls with first loves so strong and sincere they would do anything for them, there were two competitors who still harbored feelings for each other, and there was the world's kindest human in their cells suffering and enduring for the sake of strangers._

**[Elsewhere, again]**

After having given away more than half of her meal and eating what remained of hers, the turquoise haired maiden curled up at the back of her uncomfortable cage trying to sleep when the doors opened. An alien she did not recognize strode in; he had orange hair and golden eyes and was dressed in a suit, exuding an aura of importance. The alien in charge of the cells was telling him briefly about each prisoner he passed; he was uninterested in most of the boys save a blue haired one.

"Shion Kaito, right?" the blue haired boy glared up at him in response and the alien male chuckled. "You won't be around long, boy, and neither will you, Kamui Gakupo."

"What do you mean by that?" the purple haired boy exploded, fury burning in his eyes, "What did you do to Lily?" Laughing, the alien said that they had done nothing, Kaito's girlfriend had. When the purple haired boy heard the brunette's name, he paled, and the alien laughed again. "You knew all along she never loved you, eh?"

"What are you talking about? Meiko's with me!" Kaito exploded, and the alien happily explained the situation to him. Meiko and Lily's story poured forth, revealing the emotions that both girls had long been trying to hide. "Your girlfriend loves both you and that blonde. They even made love just hours ago."

The blood drained from both males' faces as the alien continued, announcing Lily's decision to commit suicide in her next challenge. It would crush Meiko to have one of the people she loved killed, and that would fertilize the doubt in her heart and definitely result in her faltering within days. "Now that you boys know you're on the death row, my job is done," he finished with a cruel grin, laughing as the two males spat and cursed at him, throwing their weak and emaciated bodies at the cage bars in a vain attempt to take out their fury on the stuck-up alien.

He walked on to Miku's cage and after confirming her identity, bent down and slid a package of some sort to her. Hesitantly, Miku crawled forth to it and withdrew from the brown paper packaging a cherry blossom pink blanket. "It is cold in here," the alien said, "and people like you so they don't want you to be cold. We even took the liberty of infusing your beloved's scent into the damn piece of cloth." Miku took an experimental sniff and widened her eyes, it was true, the blanket did smell like Luka.

"Alright, I'm out. It stinks in here." The aliens left and darkness descended upon the room once more. The two boys were muttering senselessly to themselves, obviously disturbed by what they have learned, while Miku sunk into the security of Luka's scent, talking to Rin about mundane things to take their minds off the pain and hunger. They had much time in the cages to catch up on lost time, Miku learned that Len had loved her and Rin learned the reason that Miku suddenly disappeared on them. They talked about their lovers, Ruko and Haku occasionally joined in, keeping each other's hopes up and reminding them that there was a world outside of happiness to return to if they could just hang in there.

That night, surrounded by the scent of Luka, Miku slept peacefully, wholeheartedly believing in her beloved. Luka would keep her promise and get them out of here, she firmly believed in it. No, she _knew_ it, deep within her gut she _knew_ Luka would win and they would go home to Tokyo together, wounded and changed, but with their love pure and stronger than ever before. However, if Luka won, it would mean that everyone they had gotten to know would have to die, their love trialed and failed against the Mind Games' jury of painful challenges.

Miku did not want that to happen, she wanted all of them to go back home together, but it was not possible. They knew nothing about this galaxy and how they could get back to the Milky Way, how in the world could they leave without the aliens' help? They could only play along, watching the new friends they made die one by one…

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait! Should I continue?**

**Haruka**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I am very sorry for the long wait, please don't kill me! I've been having terrible writer's block for this particular story and my examinations have not ended yet… I hope this chapter is worth the wait! I've been typing this in between tuitions instead of revising... hopefully, my grades won't be too bad...**

**To theunhappytwins, I am sorry for messing with your OTP; I am doing it again in this chapter, though… I understand, don't worry; I am very protective over my LukaxMiku OTP as well.**

**To Dakimoemoe, I have always wanted to explore the idea of LilyxMeiko, so I gave it a shot! It gave me a lot to write about and a sizable amount of emotions to play with. Thanks for the compliment!**

**To Abbey, thank you for your concern:) I am glad that you enjoy my work!**

**To Truna, thank you! I am delighted to be able to brighten up your day!**

**To everyone else who reviewed, thank you very much! I am heartened to see so many people request I continue this story!**

**Haruka**

Looking down at the chasm before her, Luka gulped and grumbled to herself, "You've got to be kidding me!" A series of ropes hanging from the ceiling were the only way she could get to the other side, and around her, human-like creatures thronged, out for her blood. She could try taking them on, but she decided against it for she would rather not risk getting multiple injuries.

Taking a deep breath, the pink haired warrior took a running jump and managed to latch on to the middle of the rope, katana still firmly clutched in one hand. Reminding herself not to look down, Luka swung her body weight forward, trying to get closer to the next rope while keeping it away from her shrieking enemies. They reached out blindly and desperately for her, climbing over one another; though they looked human, they behaved like anything but.

A few of them tumbled into the chasm, and when Luka finally made it to the second rope and severed the one behind her, she was horrified to find out that she had not heard them hit the bottom yet. The rope fell after them and also made no sound despite the long amount of time it took Luka to reach the next rope; the chasm was deep indeed, whoever dug it, if it was dug, sure did his job well. She waited on the third rope and listened, her entire body shivering; more of her enemies slipped over the edge and fell down, but no sounds came from the awning black hole. Was it bottomless…?

"Shit," Luka cursed as her clammy hands slipped on the rope, nearly sending her tumbling; her heart was pounding in her chest and bile had welled up in her throat. Fortunately, her smart idea of severing the ropes saved her from having to fight while dealing with one of her greatest fears, heights; Luka was grateful that her mind was still functioning intelligently despite the terror that swirled deep within her, despite the fact that all she wanted to do right then was cry.

It was dizzying and absolutely terrifying to even think about the ground that had fallen away below her, so Luka tried to focus every ounce of herself into reaching for the next rope and keeping an eye on the seething mass of angry enemies at the other side of the chasm. They slipped and slid, pushing and clawing at one another, hissing angrily at her. A few of them tried to leap to where she was, but it was a hopeless attempt doomed to failure. Those ropes she had cut away put at least five meters between her and the edge of the chasm, there was no way any one of those beasts could jump so far.

They were fearless and dauntless, though, no matter how many of them fell into the seemingly bottomless hole, they kept trying to reach her and a few of them got pretty darn close. Luka quickly got herself together and swung onto the next rope, severing the one behind her just as one of those creatures grabbed hold of the very last inch of it, trying to pull itself up.

It fell along with the rope, screeching loudly, while Luka tried to look away. Her heart was hammering in her throat and she could feel her pulse racing, her palms were sweaty and her skin ghostly pale. Looking ahead, the pink haired warrior counted the ropes that stood between her and victory; eleven more to go. She wanted to give up more than ever, curl in a corner and cry, heights were her greatest weakness, but it was the thought of Miku waiting for her at the other side that drove her onward. No matter what fears she had to face, no matter what trials she had to overcome, Luka would do all in her power to get past them and save her beloved. For Miku, she would do anything, endure anything, face anything… nothing would stop Luka from going to her sweetheart's aid.

The creatures were throwing one another now, and some of them were throwing their weapons at her as well. Luka ducked narrowly, shifting her weight on the rope to evade the projectiles, tears welling up in her eyes as the sickening sway of the damn piece of string reminded her that there was nothing but emptiness below her. A sword narrowly caught her in the arm, grazing her skin, and she quickly ducked as another came flying her way. The rope swayed again, making her stomach churn.

Cursing loudly, Luka grabbed at the next rope, her fingertips just grazing it as the enemy's weapon crashed into the rope she was on, severing it. For a frightening moment, she was falling with the rope, but she quickly caught hold of the next one, steadying herself. Luka cursed again, rattling off a list of swear words she picked up in high school; she reached quickly for the next rope just in case her enemies severed the one she was on before she could get to it.

They were getting further and further away, their projectiles steadily falling short of her, there now stood but four ropes between Luka and the other end of the chasm. Relief flooded through the pink haired warrior, just as a huge creature's head reared from the depths of the bottomless pit. It was as thick as a bullet train, covered in patchy red and green scales, and had teeth as long as Luka's entire arm. It roared at her, a deafening and terrifying sound that made her heart nearly stop in her chest.

Another profanity escaped the pink haired warrior's lips as she bolted up the rope to get away from gnashing teeth; how could she fight like this? Quickly, she grabbed the next rope, bringing the old one along with her to make a loop. The beast stupidly lunged after her and entered her makeshift noose willingly; Luka quickly knotted the rope and shifted to the next one, using the one she was just on to bind the thrashing creature's neck as well.

_Thank goodness I have always been the type to think quickly on her feet,_ Luka thought as she cleared the last two ropes and landed on solid ground once more; her knees trembled and she threw up a few times as the terror finally settled in her adrenaline-clouded brain. Behind her, the angered monster roared in displeasure, and Luka decided to quickly get out of there before it escaped.

Amused applause greeted her as she stumbled through the doorway, and the same alien from before spoke, "Ingenious, human, absolutely ingenious! We are delighted to have a quick thinker like you playing this year."

Luka growled at him and headed to the shower that awaited her, already growing accustomed to the after-challenge ritual. The alien waited for her to emerge patiently, glad that he was in charge of a very intelligent and amusing competitor this year. If she won, he would receive a sizable commission, and really, he was mostly doing this for money. He and his kind are just like humans betting on the outcome of dogfights, humans have no right to call them cruel.

"Your prize is an hour with the girl you love again, no more, no less," he waved his hand, the turquoise haired girl's emaciated body appearing on the ground between them. Instantly, Luka rushed to the girl's side, embracing her; he reminded them, "Your one hour begins now."

Cradling her starved and weak girlfriend in her arms, Luka suppressed her fury for another time and focused all her attention on comforting Miku; after all, she did not know when they would meet again. They had to be strong for each other and pull through the terrible things they had to endure alone, and they had but an hour with each other every few days. She could not, would not, waste a single precious moment with her Miku by thinking of those goddess-forsaken aliens.

"It's alright, Miku, I'm still going strong. I'll get us out of here, just you wait," Luka reassured the sobbing girl in her arms, stroking her matted turquoise hair, inhaling the sweet scent of Miku mixed with the stench of fear, hunger and suffering. They definitely would be the ones going home this year; Luka would do all she could to assure that.

"L-Luka…" Miku whimpered in response, "I… I don't want anyone else to have to die…!" Trust Miku to be shedding tears for the sake of others instead of worrying for herself, no other girl in the world could be so kindhearted, so selfless. She wanted everyone to go home together, but that was not possible; they lacked the strength and ability to play hero here, they were but pawns in the aliens' games, that was their inescapable reality. It was already all Luka could do to endure these challenges to bring them home alive, it was impossible for her to bring everyone else too.

"I'm sorry; sweetie… but we can't do anything. We are absolutely helpless here; the most we can do is defend our own lives…" Luka hated to have to tell her beloved that, but she would not falsely promise Miku that they could achieve something absolutely impossible. They were puppets of this sinister show, and there was nothing they could do about it.

Miku dissolved into tears once more, mourning the lives she knew would be lost over the course of these cruel Games.

**[Elsewhere]**

Before the blonde, dozens of misshapen monsters stood, watching her and slowly approaching her like lions toying with their obviously helpless prey. Around her they circled, scarlet eyes glowing, their feet padding soundlessly on the sandy floor. Lily tensed, sword in hand, and then pulled off her chest plate, tossing it at the creatures.

_I don't know who I am without you, I don't know if I can stand another hand upon you; all I know is that I should let you go. My reappearance has caused you much pain and interfered with your relationship, I should not stay any longer for fear of causing even more damage. He will love you more than I could; he will give you the happiness that I never managed to. Mei-chan… please release our memories to the wind and let them melt away…_

It clanged noisily before them and they snarled, backing up a little, hesitant to sustain any sort of injury. Lily growled at the ceiling, toward the cameras that whirred around her, "I said I would not fight, but I am not dying at the hands of your monsters either, bastards!" She had thought over it last night, filled with the bliss of holding her beloved Meiko, and she knew this was the best thing she could do. Meiko could not survive if Lily remained, her heart would be torn in two, and that half-hearted love would be her downfall. If she died and killed off that surely wilting love within Meiko for her, the brunette would be able to wholeheartedly focus on her boyfriend and, hopefully, get out of these sick Games alive.

"F*** you all, sick bastards!" with that, Lily brought her blade down upon herself, through her chest; relief coursed through the blonde as her body crumpled to the ground, her life bleeding from her.

She had chosen to lose on her own conditions, she had managed to choose her own path in this game that controlled humans as if they were hamsters in a maze, she had done what she knew she would be proud of. "Mei-chan… I… no longer have… any regrets…" The black waves that crashed upon her and dragged her from her body filled Lily with peace and contentment, something that had evaded her for years ever since she left Meiko. She had finally seen her beloved again and let her know that her feelings were true, had always been true, it was all that Lily had ever wished for. Her life was complete, and she could rest in peace.

In stunned silence, the Mind Games creators and staff watched the blonde bleed out on the dust and sand; never before had a human competitor killed herself in the entire history of the Games! They always cared too much for the lover that they would drag to hell with them; either that or they had no guts to die by their own hands. This girl, however, had plenty of guts, she was barely afraid of anything, and she could not care less about the toy rotting in the cells that would die with her. All she wanted was a fellow competitor, and she knew that she could never have her.

They swooped in to take her broken body before the beasts could devour it, struck by the peaceful smile they found on her face. Humans were strange creatures indeed, capable of such strong emotions yet such ruthless heartlessness at the same time. She would be buried among the Mind Games competitors that made an impact, while her boy toy would be incinerated along with the galaxy's trash.

Had the blonde any idea the amount of pain she would inflict upon the warrior Sakine with her death? No, she probably did not, she must have thought that the brown haired warrior felt much more affection toward her boyfriend and would be better off without her. She probably thought that the warrior Sakine would love her boyfriend completely if she were out of the way; she could not have been any more wrong.

The drama was beginning, and it was much more exciting than the climax of any other year's Mind Games. There were so many competitors with such interesting feelings and backgrounds, many this year would be remembered by the Andromeda Galaxy for millennia to come.

"Japan has quite a number of interesting and intense people… we should take competitors from Asia more often. Shall we take... South-East Asians next year, Sir?"

**[Elsewhere, again**]

"Masuda Lily has failed her challenge. Masuda Lily and Kamui Gakupo are dead."

The announcement nearly made Meiko's heart stop right in her chest; she had not expected Lily to really give up the fight and give up her life. Her knees crumbled below her, her head and heart ached, tears rolled uncontrollably down her cheeks as she began to sob with the intensity of a person vomiting, on all fours. Kaito's eyes filled with worry as he crawled weakly to her, wrapping his arms around her; to his surprise, Meiko flinched away from his embrace and sunk to her knees, still sobbing.

"You… you really loved her… didn't you?" Kaito asked gently, there was no trace of an accusation in his tone, but Meiko's heart still filled with guilt and pain. She nodded, mumbling a feeble, half-hearted apology, and he reassured her, "It isn't your fault, Mei-chan. We cannot control our hearts, after all."

So, that smug alien bastard was right… Kaito had hoped with all his heart that he had been wrong. Still, there was nothing he could do about the situation and though it hurt him sizably that he was not the only one in Meiko's heart, he understood that it was no one's fault. Maybe it was his own for being an extra, for not trying to find out about his girlfriend's past. He had let it all go, let Meiko keep her secrets, if only he had not, he would have tried to reunite the two, and all this would not be happening.

Lily would not have died, Gakupo too. Guilt gnawed at the blue haired man's heart, he had caused the deaths of two innocent strangers and inflicted a deep wound in Meiko's chest that would probably never heal… If only he had put in the effort to uncover more about Meiko, instead of trying to steal her heart…

As the last of their hour slipped away from them, Meiko whimpered the blonde's name senselessly as her tears dripped onto the cold stone floor, her body heaving with the intensity of her cries; helpless, Kaito could only watch and wish he had done more for the girl he loved with all his heart. If only he had worked to reunite her with Lily… Meiko would not be torn in two, mourning the death of her beloved. If she were unlucky enough to be here even if the circumstances were different, she would be fighting wholeheartedly for Lily, or the other way round; either way Lily would not be dead now, and Meiko would not be in this pathetic state.

There was so much they regretted, but they could no longer change anything. What had happened could not be reversed, and the dead remained dead forever. When Masuda Lily took her own life that day, she took with her half of Meiko and a little piece of her boyfriend Kaito. Wills were beginning to weaken and lives were slowly fading, and it was but the third challenge of the Games. How many more challenges would there be before only one with a heart of pure and true love remained?

Meiko wiped her eyes as the alien in charge of her appeared to announce the end of her reward, telling Kaito in a pained and hollow voice, "I'll continue fighting, Kaito. For you… and for her."

Relieved, he replied, "That's good to hear, Meiko." Although it hurt him to know that he was not the only one in her heart even now, he knew that this was Meiko's idea of penance, she would suffer for the pain she had caused the girl who had truly loved her. She would not take the easy way out and die, not until she had tasted enough pain to alleviate her guilt. "I love you."

It hurt him that she did not respond, it hurt him that she gave him an almost stricken, apologetic look, but he would not let it get to him. He would have faith in his girlfriend and support her no matter what, that was true love after all. _Masuda Lily, you fool… did you think Meiko loved me more than she loved you? Did you think your death would cause her little pain? She loved you, __**loves you still**__… why did you leave her…?_ However, deep inside, Kaito knew that Lily would still have died before long; there was no other way about it as her feelings for Kamui Gakupo were not real. Her dying then, before Meiko sunk too deeply into the love that they had once shared, might have been for the best. She had a higher chance of letting go earlier than later, and it was a slim enough chance as it was. The most painful decision was the best one most of the time, adult life taught him as much, and it seemed to have taught Masuda Lily as well.

**A/N: Please leave me a review if you have any comments! Oh, and please try to review in English, I cannot understand Spanish (is that Spanish…?), unless you can review in Mandarin or Japanese, which I can understand (albeit sparingly for the former). I am delighted that you have made the effort to review and it is a little wasted that I cannot understand what you have taken time to tell me.**

**Should I continue?**

**Haruka**


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